James Ward-Prowse of Southampton takes a free kick against Crystal Palace on December 15, 2021 in London, England. Photo: VCG

Southampton's James Ward-Prowse might not seem like he belongs in the same company as English Premier League legends such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Gianfranco Zola but the 27-year-old certainly does. 

Ask his former England under-21s teammate Jack Butland. The Crystal Palace goalkeeper joined a growing group to have been beaten by Ward-Prowse from a free kick when the Southampton midfielder stepped up from 25 yards after teammate Armando Broja was fouled in their recent 2-2 draw.  

The Southampton No.8 steadied himself and arrowed his free kick over the Palace wall and into the top corner of Butland's net, leaving the keeper no chance despite flinging himself across the goal. 

After bending another trademark free kick into the back of the net only Beckham, Henry and Zola are ahead of him in the list of goals scored from direct free kicks. 

"The one against Palace was the first one I've had in a real exciting area of the pitch so yeah to get the first one of the season was nice and hopefully more to come," Ward-Prowse told the Daily Echo after the goal. 

That - another top-corner effort that helped secure a share of the spoils at Selhurst Park - was his 11th free kick goal, which also moved him level with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo on the all-time list.  

If either of those players is going to reel in Zola, Henry and Beckham, then it is more likely to be the England midfielder rather than the Manchester United returnee. Ronaldo's last free kick in the English Premier League came in the Manchester derby back in 2009 before he left for Real Madrid. 

While the Portuguese was prolific from set pieces during his time in La Liga, his shooting star has waned in the last decade and his last goal from a direct free kick in club colors came for Juventus in Serie A in the 2019-20 season, coincidentally in the Turin derby. Truth be told, the 36-year-old has not looked like he will end the dismal run since returning to Old Trafford. 

Ward-Prowse is a constant threat from the dead ball and is confident that he might chase down Beckham at the top of the list. 

"We don't get too many opportunities in games, so when those come along, it's a big moment," Ward-Prowse told the Press Association in a recent interview. 

"Hopefully I can reach that or surpass him, that would be incredible. I've got a bit of time, but we'll see," said the 27-year-old, who was speaking on behalf of Virgin Media. 

"When I was younger, I just felt really confident with free kicks. I wanted to be like Beckham, I wanted to be like [Steven] Gerrard and score the worldies from a dead ball. 

"Starting out when I was a kid, I always liked taking free kicks and now you're going up towards the top where the greats are, so of course it's a nice feeling to have. 

"But I'm not satisfied yet. There are still a few more to get and I hopefully can reach the top level on that." 

Ward-Prowse was named Fans' Player of the Season at Southampton last season and went into the summer as part of Gareth Southgate's England squad ahead of the European Championships before being cut at the 11th hour. 

He has set his sights on making the cut for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup which is now less than 12 months away. 

"Of course I had the disappointment from the summer, but to see them be so successful and the way they handled themselves is a big inspiration to me to be back in amongst that group and hopefully be successful as well," Ward-Prowse said. 

"You have setbacks in your career, you have challenges. Some go your way and some don't and you have to be resilient and maintain that belief in yourself that you can be playing at that level. 

"Going away from that camp gave me that hunger and desire to be back there soon. To be sat at home watching them be successful on the one hand was difficult, but equally, it was really good. 

"It was a tough time, but I need to be doing my talking on the pitch at Southampton and give myself that platform to get back into the squad." 

He has let his feet do the talking and it is surely only a matter of time before the dead ball dynamo scores again to join Zola and Henry on 12 goals.  

Ward-Prowse has scored more than half of his English Premier League free kicks in the last 18 months. Those six goals have seen him race up the all-time list to go past Manchester United's Juan Mata and former Spurs star Christian Eriksen on eight goals and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, his cousin Jamie Redknapp and former Newcastle United favorite ­Nolberto Solano on nine goals each. 

More recently Ward-Prowse surpassed Leeds United's Ian Harte and Blackburn Rovers specialist Morten Gamst Pedersen on 10 each to join Ronaldo, ex-Newcastle United player Laurent Robert and Bimingham City star Sebastien Larsson on 11. Of those players only Ronaldo and Mata are still playing with the Spaniard barely featuring for Manchester United these days. 

Ward-Prowse has scored his 11 free kicks in 284 English Premier League games, with the goal against Palace the first since February. Beckham's 18 came in 265 appearances for Manchester United before he left for Real Madrid. 

The Southampton star says he has never met his inspiration. 

"No I haven't yet, no," he admitted to the Daily Echo earlier this month.  

"If there's a stipulation that I have to beat his record in order to meet him then I'll be looking to do that as soon as I can. 

"He's an absolute legend, a great of the game, a huge role model and inspiration for me even now - and I'm 27. 

"He's obviously a legend in my eyes and I'm hopefully going to get his record, but we shall see."